As a media professional since 1972, I found myself in South Florida in the new millennium working as audio engineer for the Miami Dolphins and Florida Marlins. A move to Central Florida several years later forced me out of the media business and into education, where I have been ever since.

I teach Intensive Reading to seniors at Dunnellon High School as well as AP World History. It’s the reading students that motivated me to create “Reading for Radio” about five years ago.

Barry CarrusJust go to Tune In Radio and “search for The GROWL.”

I had been searching for an incentive to motivate students to improve their technical reading skills and, of all things, a 250-foot radio tower on our campus began the process. Although used by the transportation department, I looked into an LPFM license for the school and was encouraged until I started the budget process. NO WAY! As most of you know and understand, we, in education, barely have enough money for essentials, not to mention trying to fund a project like that.

But the idea of trying to blend radio technology with the academic needs of my reading students still seemed like a great idea. Imagine, having a school radio station, run by students and opening the audition process to all struggling reading students to participate.

I started looking into internet radio and suddenly the idea had legs. Still, funding would be a challenge, but nothing like the cost of trying to implement an over-the-air presence.

This is where Century Link Communications entered the picture. The company sponsors an annual grant competition through its Clarke M. Williams Foundation. These grants are open to public school teachers who blend technology and academics to benefit their students. It seemed like a perfect fit. However, for a traditional broadcaster there was a significant learning curve ahead, trying to wrap my head around a new-to-me, method of delivery.

I applied for the grant in the fall of 2015 and received word that I had been successful in April 2016. My first reaction was unexpected “Now that I have the money, you mean I actually have to do this?!” I spent the entire summer of that year doing the research; and there was plenty of it.

First, investigating what the technical aspects of putting a station on the internet was all about. What, if any were the government regulations; what licensure was required; how are royalties covered; basically how did all the pieces fit together.

Next, of course, came a design and a location within the school. The administration at the time came through with an unused office and I designed the equipment configuration around that space. Now a meeting with the head of IT for the school system explaining the project and seeing if the infrastructure would support streaming within the school — bandwidth being the problem. I explained that we would be sending our outbound signal to a web hosting company for streaming and that our IT requirements were minimal. One problem eliminated.

Next, surveying and selecting equipment that would meet our needs at a reasonable cost. I enlisted the help of Guitar Center Pro and found them to be very helpful in the selection process. Finally, I needed to find a software automation system that would fit our needs and our budget. Most of you know this market has become very active in the last few years and there are dozens of products to choose from in every price range. I was extremely fortunate to come across a talented young developer in Texas who has created a program called NextKast Pro. The program is sold as a download with program key and is incredibly reasonable and both powerful and flexible. The studio is broken into two halves utilizing two windows based PCs. One is dedicated to just running the NextKast software and is our “broadcast” computer. The other is our “production station” utilizing an Allen & Heath analogue mixer, Sure and AKG studio mics and Audacity editing software for our production needs.

At the beginning of 2016-17 school year, students were recruited to join “The GROWL,” as we are the Dunnellon Tigers. Our goal was to get on the air prior to Christmas break. On Dec. 13, 2016, The GROWL went on the air for the first time, 24/7 since.

The last piece of the puzzle was selecting our access platform. We have chosen Tune In Radio utilizing either their mobile app or their internet presence at www.tunein.com. Our format is eclectic as we attempt to provide both music of all genres and some very creative original student programming — written, produced and performed by our students.

The GROWL is on the TuneIn app or at www.tunein.com and then “Search” for The Growl.

At an almost alarming rate, students these days are unable to determine news writing from opinion writing.

In my two Journalism I classes, I conducted a pre-assessment experiment where students evaluated a news article and opinion article from the local newspaper. I asked students to read both pieces, underline the facts and opinions in each article and then decide which piece was from the news section and which piece was from the opinion section.

Students were able to accurately identify facts and opinions in the articles, but only four of the 40 J1 students correctly identified the news article. To say I was shocked would be an understatement.

To make this exercise a little challenging for students, I selected a news article about one of the first African-American firefighters in our town who had recently died. Family members and other firefighters painted a picture of who he was in the article. To be fair, most of what they said was opinionated. The opinion piece I selected was also full of facts and seemed very newsworthy to the students. It was, but it was also very opinionated with the mission of persuading readers.

Once students identified the opinions and facts in each article, I had them find a partner and discuss which one they thought was news and opinion and why. The discussions largely were focused on “this one has more facts, so it must be the news piece.”

Once students finished discussing, I had them write on a poster T-chart at the front of the room facts and opinions from both articles. I then read each fact and each opinion for each that they had written. I offered no explanation at this point. I then had students vote using two different colored sticky notes which article was the news, and which was the opinion.

After the vote, I identified which was the news piece. Students were extremely shocked to find out the majority had chosen incorrectly.

We were able to discuss which one was which, and why before the end of class. I taught a full lesson on opinion writing vs. news writing in the next class, which solidified students’ understanding. After the lesson, I repeated the initial activity with two different articles, and more than 90 percent of the class correctly identified the pieces. I spent a little extra time with the two students who had not yet caught on, and they also now understand.

Overall, the lesson has a high student engagement. There was also quite a bit of scaffolding throughout the activities to ensure the majority of students were able to reach an understanding of news and opinion.

With digital storytelling and production majors on the rise, more students who would have pursued a journalism degree in college now roll the dice on a degree that some say allows more freedom and flexibility in both career options and storytelling styles.

Cassie Bauer works in Wisconsin during her internship studies at Drake University.

SchoolJournalism recently visited with two such students to get their thoughts about their course of study. Their insight can be helpful for teachers as they guide students towards their next steps, as well as current high school students who are looking for information about these majors.

Lindsay Alfermann: “I will graduate from the University of Missouri-Columbia in May 2019 with a Bachelor of Arts in Digital Storytelling, a Minor in I.T., and a Multicultural Certificate.”

Cassandra Bauer: “My major is Digital Media Production and my minor is in Graphic Design at Drake University. I will graduate in December of 2018.”

SJ: What type of skills does your major utilize?

Alfermann: “My classes focus on storytelling through several mediums including video production, photography, animation, and other creative outlets like social media. I even had a class that examined storytelling through video games. We use Adobe Creative Suite softwares such as Premiere Pro, Lightroom, and Photoshop to produce our work, which is primarily shot using DSLR cameras.”

Bauer: “To be a digital media production major, you really need to be well-versed in anything that a communications job may throw at you. If you’re like me and you want to be a documentary filmmaker, you need to be well-rounded. When I first came to Drake, I wanted nothing to do with broadcast news, but there’s no real way to get around that in what I plan to do. I ended up taking a lot of broadcast classes like writing classes for reporters, a broadcast-oriented video production class, audio production classes, public relations classes, and more to help me become a strong documentary filmmaker.”

SJ: What opportunities have your major afforded you so far that have had a strong impact upon your life?

Alfermann: “The Digital Storytelling major at Mizzou allows students to work in a much more flexible and creative atmosphere than a journalistic degree would typically provide. When I switched my major from Journalism to this, I was able to take more diverse classes that focus on artistic and creative subjects because Digital Storytelling pulls courses from so many different areas into its curriculum.

“The timeline of earning the degree is also more flexible and allows for more electives. For the most part, a Digital Storytelling student can take the majority of courses in any order that they’d like. This eliminated a lot of stress for me because I no longer had to follow a strict course plan’s scope and sequence.

“We also have little to no creative restriction when it comes to projects. My final video last semester was a mini-documentary about Mizzou’s Olympic Bronze Medalist wrestler, J’den Cox. It was definitely a cool opportunity to sit down and learn more about such a prestigious athlete.

Lindsay Alfermann on her study abroad in Ireland.

“The Digital Storytelling department also invited students to join the IT Engineering department’s study abroad trip to Ireland this past June, which I was lucky enough to be a part of. Never in my wildest dreams did I ever imagine my major would take me across the ocean to document such a beautiful country. That experience greatly impacted my life. I will carry it with me forever.”

Bauer: “I’ve been very lucky to have had an internship every summer. The summer of my freshman year I worked as a remote intern for Spoon University, creating several videos a month on how to create cool recipes. The summer of my sophomore year I got to live in Wisconsin and worked for Northwest Passage as a Film Production intern. I taught kids how to create motion poetry and created a music video and a short documentary. This past summer I lived in Memphis, Tenn., as a Corporate Communications intern for First Tennessee Bank. I visited Nashville, South Carolina, and Florida while I interned there. I got to fly on the company’s private jet with the CEO, Bryan Jordan, and I met John Hope Bryant, Founder of Operation HOPE.”

SJ: Briefly speaking, what doors do you feel are opening for you thanks to this major?

Alfermann: “My degree will allow me to be eligible to a much larger section of the job market than if I would have earned a more defined journalism degree. Digital Storytelling cannot be constrained to any particular career. I could accept a job creating promotional content for a corporate business and work on the commercial side of the business. I could also work for a creative production studio on films, or even work freelance and create my own projects. I have a lot of soul searching to do before graduation to decide where to start, but I know wherever I end up will be exciting.”

Bauer: “Without the skills I’ve learned at Drake, I would have no idea what I would be doing.”

SJ: Why did you choose this major instead of a Journalism degree?

Alfermann: “I wanted to be more creative and think outside of the constraints of the world of hard news and journalism. I want to touch hearts and tell personal stories of humanity, art, and entertainment. Digital Storytelling allows me to do this without any defined structure of what a story should or shouldn’t be. I get to experiment with software to create unique digital effects for videos, analyze films, and learn to use other more diverse mediums of dissecting what storytelling is.”

Bauer: “As a Digital Media Production major, I’m not limited to straight-up journalism. I can be working in a marketing firm, as a documentary filmmaker, or even in a bank like I did this summer. My doors are wide open to practically any industry when I graduate.”

SJ: What tips do you have for students considering this field of study?

Alfermann: “If a student likes to experiment with technology and produce any kind of digital content, they should definitely consider the Digital Storytelling major. There really is no limit to what they would be allowed to create.

“When I started to consider college, all I knew was that I had a camera and liked to make videos and tell the stories of people in my community. I thought that automatically made me a good fit for a journalism degree. I didn’t even know that any other digital production degrees existed outside of journalism.

“I would advise incoming students to sit down and read through the list and description of related majors that are offered by their list of potential schools. They should compare the course lists and evaluate whether they think they would enjoy taking those classes and how they would be applicable in the future. The more research that is done before starting college, the better. There is typically room to switch majors like I did within the first few semesters of school, but I certainly wish I had done my research and saved myself the time and effort of taking classes I didn’t enjoy.”

Bauer: “Don’t wait for someone to hold the door open for you. You need to be proactive in pursuing internships. No one is going to say, ‘Today you should start applying’ or ‘Here’s the internship you were looking for.’ Ultimately, you’re the first and last person looking out for you. Do everything you can to advance your career.”

Are you looking to strengthen your journalistic skills? Do you want to deep dive on a single issue that reaches across politics, social justice, science, policy, human interest and animal wellbeing?

Come join us this summer at the Institute for Environmental Journalism. The Pulitzer Prize-winning news organization InsideClimate News is running two summer journalism programs that introduce newbies to the process of environmental journalism and give more experienced reporters a unique approach to covering climate change.

Spend two weeks in NYC or Bar Harbor, Maine, learning from journalism specialists, immersing yourself in climate science, going off-site on reporting trips, hearing from guest speakers, and most importantly working each day with professional reporters on your own journalism piece.

“The mentors helped me so much.”

Through the institute, high school students and recent graduates from all backgrounds will learn to become credible voices for their communities through non-partisan journalism focused on the environment. Dip your toes into a fresh beat that will grow in importance around the world. No matter what journalistic content area you are covering now or what you want to cover as a professional, this hands-on primer in climate change reporting will up your game.

“I now want to find out what people and companies and politicians are doing to solve global warming.”

Last summer, the work of two participants was broadcast nationally on NPR, one student had her piece published online at Maine Public Radio and a photo taken on a reporting assignment was a finalist for a New York Times photojournalism contest.

Choose from a two-week boarding program at College of Atlantic in Bar Harbor, Mainewhere students will pursue ambitious journalism immersed in Maine’s rugged outdoors with award-winning research scientists and journalists.Or a two-week day program at The New School in the heart of New York City, offering a robust pre-college experience in an bustling urban setting filled with cutting-edge researchers.

One of the most exciting aspects of weaving media literacy instruction into the classroom is the rich source material that we are able to glean from news and entertainment media, pop culture and social media. It can also feel overwhelming to try to keep our instruction on pace.

When Beyoncé dropped “Formation” on Feb. 6, 2016, and the next day gave a Black Panther-inspired performance during the Super Bowl halftime show, there was backlash on social media and from political pundits. I quickly created an essay assignment asking students to consider historical context and the rhetorical situation, and analyze the video and the responses. The assignment was a success—I went on to write about it for this website, and give a presentation about it at national and local conferences.

One year later, my students hadn’t even heard of the video. Trying to recreate lessons that were created in the moment of a pop culture phenomenon feels much like trying to shove a square peg in a round hole, and the meaningfulness is diluted. However, as educators, we can take the lessons we learn (from collecting solid resources to assessing what worked/didn’t work), and keep our classrooms open to current topics.

Integrating media literacy into the classroom doesn’t always include an elaborate lesson plan or essay assignment. Sometimes it’s powerful to simply acknowledge major media stories, and help guide students toward good sources to help them navigate information.

Here are some of the cultural flash points that provided important conversation starters in my classrooms in 2018:

Note: I teach college freshmen and sophomores, so while these topics are broadly appropriate for high school students, your mileage may vary in terms of the depth and specifics of difficult topics.

#MeToo, Pulitzer Prizes and Supreme Court Hearings

It has been difficult to avoid the heaviness of the news cycle surrounding sexual assault and misconduct over the last year. When #MeToo and #TimesUp dominated social media, investigative news and awards shows, it was sometimes surprisingly manageable to bring the discussion into the classroom by providing historical context. Like so many of these overwhelmingly difficult conversations, we are well-served by giving our students a history lesson before delving into the now. Rebecca Solnit’s “Cassandra Among the Creeps” is a staple essay in many of my classes. With #MeToo, the conversation often turned to who is believed. I tried to point to the good journalistic techniques that the reporters adhered to (which would win them the 2018 Pulitzer Prize in Public Service).

During the Brett Kavanaugh hearings, some incredible articles were written about rape culture in ‘80s films, which Kavanaugh had playfully cited in his testimonies. Opportunities for media literacy education are everywhere we turn, and can help us navigate subjects that sometimes seem too big to bring into the classroom.

As a general rule, I try to share brief NPR news clips with students about controversial topics, so they can hear calm, balanced, fact-based reporting and interviewing.

“This is America,” by Childish Gambino

“This is America,” by Childish Gambino (Donald Glover), was another surprise song/video drop on Saturday, May 5, 2018 (the video is directed by Hiro Murai). I remember watching it over and over again, and being frustrated that classes were over and I couldn’t make a lesson out of it. I gave my African American Literature class the option to stay after their scheduled final to watch it, and handed out a packet of resources so they could fully analyze the historical references. I presented the video and resource packet to Diversity in the Media this past fall. Many students were captivated, and got excited about analyzing the images and themes. The best of these pop culture artifacts demand an understanding of historical references and force audiences to consider perspective and meaning beyond face value.

“Won’t You Be My Neighbor?”

The documentary “Won’t You Be My Neighbor?” is a deeply moving profile of Fred Rogers’s life and his legacy, “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood.” Rogers planned to become a minister, but he found his calling in creating children’s television, because he “hated” TV, and how children’s television in particular was not concerned with nurturing or educating children. While the film is a portrait of the man himself, it also includes a vast array of clips from “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood.” While those of us who grew up with Mr. Rogers certainly watch this film (and cry a lot) with added nostalgia, many of my students who had no prior knowledge of the show were moved by the possibilities of what television could be, and how powerful Rogers’s dedication to representation and inclusion was.

I’ve noticed over the last two years that many of my students have become more disengaged with the news. A combination of media fragmentation and controversy saturation, along with a rising tide of anti-press sentiment, have caused a level of apathy that I can’t help but sympathize with. However, bringing up the phrases “fake news” or “the media is the enemy” typically results in a collective knowledge of the rhetoric. As with most controversial topics, my goal is always to ask the students to take a step back, take a deep breath and try to discover more of what they don’t know in order to have calm conversations. Reviewing the actual powers and limitations of the First Amendment is a good start. In 2018, “The Boston Globe” organized an editorial-writing campaign in response to the increasing rhetoric about journalists being the “enemy of the people.” Hundreds of newspapers around the country responded. Ensuring that our students understand the First Amendment, particularly the bit about the freedom of the press, is essential. This can also help open up conversations about how social media—Twitter in particular—has reshaped the relationship between government officials, the press and the public.

If you have time in class, or want to give students further recommendations, “The Post” (2017) and “All the President’s Men” (1976) are excellent films that give even more context to the historical relationship between the press and the White House.

Kendrick Lamar Wins the Pulitzer Prize

Kendrick Lamar made history by winning the Pulitzer Prize in music for his album “DAMN.” in 2018. I always try to weave the Pulitzer Prize winners into my journalism and mass media classes, and this year was no exception. Lamar’s win was significant: he is the first non-classical or jazz artist to win the prize. This opens up questions about what we typically think of as art, and what that means. We can have discussions in the literature/mass media classroom about commercial fiction vs. literary fiction or high art vs. pop culture, and how many of those categories serve to uphold sexist and racist notions of what we consider art in America. Lessons about rap and hip-hop also helps students learn everything from American history to poetry analysis.

In a couple of semesters, many of these news stories will be completely off our students’ radars, but the general topics certainly won’t be. If we can be open to staying responsive to current media stories in our classrooms, and keep building an arsenal of resources to help guide conversations, we are serving our students the best we can by promoting research, analysis, critical thinking and, as a result, civil discourse.

Fall 2018 was my first semester teaching a Drone Video and Photography course. Like any new course, we had our ups and downs. Here are the things that I learned:

If your district is similar to mine, sometimes new class materials aren’t always available the first thing in August. I felt like I was teaching a ELA course with no books. So yeah, I could make due for the first month, but it really was a lot of making it up along the way.

Basic concepts in aviation, mathematics, and technology were important starting out. For a very right-brained learner, it actually turned out to be fun to see how these all work together. I felt proud of myself for teaching a subject with more than creative production.

Drone class is day-to-day based on the weather. Towards the end of the semester, the weather was more volatile. It became harder for us to find days to film with the drone. Be ready to be flexible with film schedules.

Avoid using a drone as a fad tool. Don’t get stuck on the idea of using your drone just because you have it. Aerial shots are quite often used in the beginning of a film, a part of a movement in a scene, or for the ending shot. Try to have reason for how you incorporate into your production.

As a photographer, maximize your resources across your journalism department. Create forms for newspaper and yearbook staff to fill out a request for a drone photo to be used in an upcoming story. Have them submit it to your students for them to see how they can be a supporting role.

To break up the flight schedule, we reviewed articles once a week to look at ethical issues in filming with a drone. Articles from Time Magazine and Scientific America were helpful. You may even be able to find some in your local news outlets. Topics deal with privacy laws, use in multiple industries, and how local law enforcement agencies use drones. On other days, we used a video or photo of the week submitted by students. I love looking at the hashtag #drones on Instagram because it can lead you to unbelievable photos and the industry leaders who I can use for contacts.

Bring in a speaker. We contacted a local photographer from a news outlet who was happy to share his experience dealing with the laws of flight, difficulties in his job and examples of how he incorporated it into stories for fellow reporters. Students loved seeing the type of drone he incorporated into his job.

Overall, we had some hits and misses with the course. It was to be expected in our first year, but I also found great joy in seeing some of the students shine in the work.

]]>https://www.schooljournalism.org/i-got-a-drone-now-what/feed/2Halloween and Justin Timberlake: An average October in the life of an adviserhttps://www.schooljournalism.org/halloween-and-justin-timberlake-an-average-october-in-the-life-of-an-adviser/
https://www.schooljournalism.org/halloween-and-justin-timberlake-an-average-october-in-the-life-of-an-adviser/#respondThu, 25 Oct 2018 16:59:44 +0000https://www.schooljournalism.org/?p=14229

Halloween isn’t the only thing scary in the month of October. Somehow, this is always when it starts to feel like the wheels begin to fall off of my yearbook crew’s wagon.

My kids begin to panic under the pressure of the now-real deadline cycle, and it seems like chaos begins to brew and bubble over just like a witch’s cauldron with some potent ingredients.

I usually join in on the stress party by panicking about meeting deadlines and managing the budget. Not to mention… Every. Single. Email. About. Senior. Ads.

This fun combination of panic, stress and chaos seems to erupt right about this time every year, usually right around the time that group photo day is scheduled and we still have hundreds of kids to track down for picture retake days. The j-lab becomes a pretty tense place to be, both for my students and myself.

The fun, light-hearted conversations disappear from the beginning of class and my kids immediately jump into a panicked work mode.

This fuels my feelings of being totally overwhelmed. I’m definitely not an expert, and I’m still really new to this whole advising game. It feels so frustrating to see this tension developing, even more so when I realize I’m also becoming enveloped in it.

Then it hit me. I need to relax and breathe and stop stressing out. I was caught in a spin cycle of venting to my colleagues and adviser buddies from across the nation. My frustrations began to fuel and create new frustrations, and those feelings quickly become contagious. I am part of the problem.

I have been focusing on the worrisome details of advising a yearbook class, rather than looking for solutions to the problems and finding a way to foster a fun and rewarding experience.

This staff works as a team to build a shoe tower during a team-building exercise.

I started thinking about what was missing, and I realized the missing component was the fun. I have been so focused on making sure all of my classes are on the same page and producing work that I have completely forgotten about a huge component of why I love advising, not to mention why kids take the class. Fun!

It is time to go back to the team building, and the silly activities, and the fun. If I am not building in those breaks to get to know each other, and to celebrate each other, then I am falling short of the goals that I set for myself each year.

The hours spent in the lab should always feel like they are worth it, and part of that balance is making things fun. So, I went back to the notes that I have taken at various camps and adviser academies, and I have made a decision. Much like Justin Timberlake brought sexy back in 2006, I’m bringing the fun back in 2018.

The list below is a few of my favorite resources. For sure these were introduced to me by someone along the way…I’m sorry I can’t name drop (or give credit to) all of the amazing people who introduced me to these great activities.

The Ninja Game: See the link for a pretty epic version of the game, complete with soundtrack. My kids always love to play this. I don’t know why…but who really cares? They have fun and I always end up laughing.

The Human Knot (& 60 other ideas!): This activity works great when my kids are real fired up. It’s hard to be mad when you’re holding hands with people. Unless their hands are sweaty…

Personality Quizzes: My kids love learning about themselves, and it helps us relate better to one another as well. These are good for days when we need a low-key team builder. I usually have them take the quiz and then partner with someone who had different results to analyze what their personality types mean.

Team-building activities keep the “fun” in a staff and help them meet expectations as a group.

Drawing Days: A great brain break/team building activity is to have kids draw. I have a couple of cool adult coloring books that we use. For team building, I have them work on a picture for a few minutes before they have to switch with a partner or small group. They can either keep working on the same area/design, or change the design completely. At the end, they discuss to debrief.

Compliments: Sometimes I just make my kids say nice things to each other. This is always awkward and forced at first, but it becomes second nature. It’s important.

That’s a short list, and there are so many more ways to bring fun into the classroom. I know that list isn’t inclusive of everything I have learned and tried, but it’s a start.

Ultimately, the team building will be implemented by my students. I know it will be. Just as they have followed my lead into the stress spin cycle, I know they will follow this lead as well.

I remember stepping into the journalism classroom that fall of 2003, trying to live up to the legacy of the award-winning program I was honored to inherit from one of the historically stellar journalism teachers in the country. Even with my journalism degree and five years of experience, I constantly thought, “Who am I to teach this? How will I inspire these kids to become better photographers, writers and designers?” To add to it all, a decade ago my principal approached me about adding broadcast to the mix, even though I had limited experience in that field.

This story happens over and over again with instructors in the journalism classroom.

But there are advisers out there to offer you a life preserver: membership in journalism organizations. From metro area to regional to state to national organizations – each group has something to offer you and your students.

That fall, I joined all the organizations expected of the programs based on the last teacher – it’s one of the smartest things I did that first year. To this day, I still join all of those original organizations and then some. My journalism program currently joins six organizations annually and spends nearly $1,300 doing so. It is worth EVERY penny.

Networking

All too often, I hear journalism teachers bemoan, “No one teaches this subject,” or “I don’t have someone in my building to collaborate with or share lessons with.”

Organizations are the answer. Each one has varying numbers of members with a variety of years of teaching experience and journalism training. There’s a multitude of people to meet, share ideas with and commiserate with when things aren’t working out the way we thought they would.As students, you can attend events or contact other student staff members to share ideas of how your publication works, ask for assistance with a challenge you may face, and more. So many organizations offer opportunities to do this through media swap shops, events, camps, etc.

Listservs/Newsletters

Several organizations offer listservs where you can ask a question and get nearly instant responses from fellow members. Do you need a quick photography lesson while you are out for a day and have a substitute – just ask and watch your inbox fill up.

Other groups offer regular newsletters – some keep you up-to-date with upcoming events, others offer lists of websites or apps that would be cool to check out, or send entire lessons or articles that you can file for when you need them.

Conventions/Workshops

It’s often more productive to collaborate and learn in person – so get out there and travel. It may just be in your community, in your state, or across the country for a national convention – each and every time you attend an event, you’ll learn something. As both students and teachers, you can attend class sessions on topics of interest, practice hands on, meet professional journalists, and dig deeper into areas you’d like to explore.

It’s not always about the journalism either – through traveling to the JEA/NSPA national conventions, my students have flown for the first time, learned to flag a taxi street side, learned American history in the nation’s capital, tried belly dancing in a Mediterranean restaurant in Denver, and so much more. These experiences built them as people, as well as media producers.

Speakers

Top students, professional journalists and more are often speakers at events sponsored by the organizations. You can learn so much by attending keynotes or sessions.

Other organizations offer their members speakers’ bureaus. Some partner with a university which can provide speakers to your classroom for topics that may be a weakness for your staff. I recently contacted the Missouri School of Journalism through our state organization, MIPA, because I found my documentary unit to be weak – this winter I’m looking forward to having an MU professor in my classroom.

Celebrations

Award ceremonies aren’t just to recognize the top winners or ratings in the area, state or nation. While it means so much to be recognized for your work or see your students’ work be rewarded, there’s more to do as you sit in that space. There’s learning to be done. My students can often be seen snapping a photo of an award-winning piece during a celebration – those pieces often inspire them to improve or try something new in their own work.

Camps

Summer camp without canoes and cabins? You bet. Across the country, you’ll find a wide variety of summer journalism camps – print-specific, new media, broadcast, or a blend. Some for students, some for publications staffs, some for teachers, or a blend. Sponsored by vendors like yearbook companies, run by university programs or organized by independent owners. There’s great ones and good ones.

What they all have in common is time to concentrate on journalism without the thoughts of that algebra test next period or heading to work after class. It’s 24/7 journalism for whatever length of time the camp runs – that’s HUGE! It’s so exciting to see how much you or your students learn and/or produce in such a short time. Some of the best ideas come to you at 2 a.m. with cold pizza while trying to hammer out a theme or a redesign. Camps are the place to make that happen.

Contests

Online submission. On-site. Write-offs. Monthly. Timed challenges.

There’re so many kinds of competitions organizations offer for students to challenge themselves and see how they stack up against their peers, have their skills evaluated, learn and have their work recognized.

As you start to compete, keep in mind each organization has its own set of criteria, ratings or ranking designations, deadlines and expectations. Be sure to read instructions, explanations and follow directions carefully when entering and waiting on the results.

Over the years, I’ve found that students learn a lot from the feedback – win or lose, there’s something to learn from the experience.

Critiques

Critiques can be super valuable for students. Many organizations offer critiques with some of their contests. These can be quick comments on a single contest entry, to rubrics, to multi-page booklets reviewing a year’s worth of work. Each and every one can be a learning experience, in addition to the opportunity for recognition. After I read them, I share with the student editors. They break it down and share with the staff, as well as set goals for improvement for individuals or the publication itself. We set a few goals that will push the publication to a quick visible improvement. Then we build on that feeling of success to fine tune and meet other secondary goals. Every day, you can use critiques to build and build a more successful publication for your readers or viewers.

Scholarships

Organizations offer scholarships for juniors to attend summer workshops and to seniors to recognize their top work or their portfolios. Some are singleton scholarships and others graduate from state winners to national winners. All are valuable. So please, please take the time to apply regardless of the size of the prize – every dime counts.

Mentors

If you are the first-year teacher or the experienced teacher, there’s a place for you in mentor programs. You could be a mentee or a mentor. When you sign-up as a mentee, you’ll be paired up with an experienced journalism teacher who can help you in a myriad of ways. After you have some time under your belt, you could volunteer as a mentor – it doesn’t matter the size of your program, the number of years you’ve taught or whether your list of student or personal accomplishments is long or short, you have something to offer as a mentor – sign up!

Resources

This is where the bread and butter truly is – curriculum, lessons, tips, articles, websites and more. Organizations offer so much – most of their resources are on the web. Some sites have them set out for free for you, others put them behind a membership wall where you’d sign in to gain access. Either way, check them out!

Opportunities to Serve

As a teacher, I think the most learning I have done or strongest networks I have with colleagues have been built over time serving on the metro and state organizations I’ve served over the years from being accepted as a judge for other states, acting as treasurer to serving on a national board of judges. I haven’t always felt qualified to be in some of the positions I filled, but I stepped up because my curiosity often gets the better of me (like many journalists ;)), so I volunteered and others accepted the offer to help. As you serve your organization, you see the inner gears, which opens understanding and gives opportunity for affecting change or maintaining well-loved programs. I would highly recommend you serve when given the chance to be a mentor, judge or critique, or be elected to an office. As a professional educator, it opens so much for you and your career.

Check around in your state for state organizations and in your area for regional or metro-based organizations. A great place to start your search is with a JEA State Director. This national organization hosts a director for outreach in each state. That person could help you find organizations near you or operating in your state.

Don’t let the challenges of joining keep you from these benefits.

Yes, there’s some cost involved, but the benefits far outweigh the efforts you may need to do to make it happen. Talk to your principal, look for budget money in your building, ask the booster club for funds, fund raise – there’s so many venues to find a way to afford these necessary benefits for your program.

I wasn’t the biggest fan of Google when I first started working with it as a new teacher five years ago. The overabundance of emails from shared assignments was not enjoyable.

On a due date, my inbox would automatically increase to 30 new emails or more in a matter of minutes. By the end of the day, filtering through shared assignments, as well as emails from parents, staff, and administration was an impossible and laborious task.

The introduction of Google Classroom though was much less intimidating and would become one of my favorite educational technological tools. Four years later, few, if any of my assignments are on paper. All of my classes are functioning in Google Classroom and Team Drive has been the life support of our program’s organization this year, even with it being our first year using the Team Drives.

Here’s why I utilize Google Classroom and Team Drive in my classrooms every day:

Utilizing Rubrics for Easy Grading in Google Classroom

Holding the role as a senior English teacher, yearbook adviser and composition teacher this year brings a heavy grading requirement with it. Rarely are assignments in an easy-grading package such as multiple-choice questions, but rather include written responses which require editing and feedback.

Because I believe in the importance of protecting your time off, every year my grading style evolves to make grading that much easier. Google Classroom has helped tremendously with this task.

Utilizing rubrics made grading and instruction of assignments easier. Detailed rubrics are beneficial for many reasons: they provide detailed expectations for students prior to starting the assignment; allow students a guide to assess the criteria they must meet; allows for additional feedback opportunities whether it be in written form or verbal form during student conferences; and, if used in the publications classroom, gives editors a jumping ground for proofing copy. However, rubrics can be tedious when not utilized within the best resources.

They should operate with so much productive functionality that you can quickly move around them in a three- to five-minute conference with a student. Google Classroom makes this possible. Thanks to Classroom, I can put the rubric within the assignment and make a copy for each student. This allows me to quickly grade student work, but also gives them immediate feedback. You can download examples of my rubrics below.

Another advantage to bringing Google Classroom to your program is Google Calendar. When you set your assignment due dates, the dates are placed in the class calendar.

When students sync the classroom calendar to their Google account calendar, they can see all upcoming assignments and due dates posted in Classroom. This makes little work for the teacher: when she posts the assignment due date in Classroom, it automatically moves the date to the Google Classroom Calendar. If students prefer to maintain their calendars on their phone, they can also schedule appointments or other classes’ assignment through their personal account on the Google Calendar app, even going as far as to set reminders and alarms on their phone. The Classroom calendars and their personal calendars are separate, allowing them privacy from other students and instructors, but also allows full access to all dates set online. This can be a vital tool for teaching students organization, planning and juggling heavy schedules.

Additional Resources in Google Classroom

Because so much of my publication class requires individual focus on a variety of topics (this student may need more work in photography, this student in copy writing, this student in design, etc.), Google Classroom allows me to create a large collection of resources under easy to navigate topics for the students. Students know under the photography tab in Classroom, they can find beginner and advanced level resources for photography.

These resources are obtained throughout the year as I encounter different articles, videos, tutorials, and more I think the students will find beneficial. Also, because I can keep my Google Classrooms, they become permanent resource banks where I can pull resourceful links, PDFs and assignments into current Google Classrooms.

Sub Plans in Google Classroom

I used to despise coming back to my classroom after a day I was absent, only to find out the kids did maybe half of the work I wanted them to do. I would feel as though entire class periods were wasted. As someone who used to sub, I understand how hard it is to come into a classroom in the middle of projects or assignments, largely unaware of what expectations the students should be held to when working on assignments.

Therefore, I decided, who better to leave instruction with than the people who have been a part of that instruction all year? With Google Classroom, technology gave me the opportunity to leave my sub notes with students. It also allowed me to create class discussions and monitor each student’s participation and involvement in that day based on the type of feedback they would leave in the forum. Now, when I have to be absent, I am able to return the next class period, ready to start where I know we left off when I was gone.

Photo Storage in Team Drive

Up until this year, photo storage as a yearbook teacher was an absolute nightmare for me: not enough hard-drive space, discs all over the place, trying to navigate a digital photo from two years ago someone has requested – talk about wanting to rip your hair out.

Last year, after the recommendation from our technology director, our program began using Google Drive to store photos. This was great! When an administrator requested photos from an event to share on social media or on our website, it was as easy as sharing the image.

The problem I ran into though was our senior Google account policy. At the end of each academic year, the technology department wipes the graduating class’s Google account – this would include whatever photos senior staff members had uploaded to the shared yearbook drive.

Fortunately, a staff member in our technology department had recently learned about team drives. Under the team drive account, any files uploaded into the team drive becomes property of the team. Therefore, even if a Google account is deleted, whatever items that individual uploaded into the team drive remains. Like Google Classroom, this creates an unlimited amount of storage space for our yearbook materials: student articles, school photos, and more.

Though the influx of educational apps and technology can be a bit overwhelming as educators, I highly recommend exploration into Google Classroom, Calendar, and Team Drive for your program’s growth. For our staff, it has been beneficial in organizational and communicative ways we have not been able to easily maintain within any other facility or application.

When I first started advising newspaper, an online news site was already part of the class. There was just one issue: despite being a journalism major in college, I didn’t have a lot of experience with managing a website. The previous adviser left me some notes and passwords for the site, but even with that, it was still a bit stressful. Luckily for me, my editors and returning students were able to guide me in the process of running our publication, as well as our website.

When I took a job advising at a different high school, however, there was no online news site, so when my students asked if we could get one, I had to start from scratch and figure out how we were going to incorporate the website into the system we already had in place while making sure I wasn’t creating an unmanageable amount of work for myself.

GETTING IT SET UP

No matter your budget, there are a lot of great hosting sites available, WordPress, Weebly, SNO Sites, Blogger, so it’s just a matter of finding which site would be best for your program. Some sites offer existing templates you can easily customize for your publication while others offer more freedom in design.

Conduct some research first (preferably with your staff) of other online publications as well to get an idea for what is practical for your program. A great place to start is NSPA’s Best of Showaward winners.

Once you choose a site, then it’s just a matter of getting it set up.

Choose a URL and publication name that complements your existing publications. You don’t want to confuse your readers.

Set up your design elements.

Create your staff accounted and publication pages so your staff can access the site and all legal/contact information is available.

INCORPORATING THE SITE

Starting Tasks

Start small. The last thing you want to do is end up creating another publication class inside of an already existing publication class, so don’t ask too much of your students in the beginning.

I had a staff of 16 when we first started our website, which is a small staff compared to many programs. Once all their profiles were set up, I had my students post all their stories from that year and previous years, if applicable, online just to build up content.

This was the only time I published online what was also published in print unless the print story had media components not feasible in print. However, decide for your publication what would be the best for your program.

Deadlines

After we had enough content built up, each staff member was required to post one story online per month that differed from content covered in our print publication.

Originally I did not set specific dates for each student; they just had to be published by the end of the month, but now, each student has to choose a three-day window of when their story will appear online. This allows you to make sure you have constant media coverage online. A wall calendar or Google calendar helps keep you and your staff organized with your print and online deadlines.

Content

Every month, my staff conducts a brainstorm where they share story ideas that they come up with and then we discuss them. Sometimes the story angles that they generate lend themselves better to online than print, so we just move them to that category. While many students know right away what they want to cover in that month, sometimes students struggle.

I give them a few days if they don’t have an idea right away, and then we conference together to come up with something. For my own organization, I get a document that lists the angle of online stories for each student so that no one accidentally duplicates content.

You want to make sure, too, that you are still offering a variety of content on your website and that the stories are still adhering to journalistic standards like timeliness, relevance, etc..

Also, my staff members cannot write the same type of story each month (feature, news, sports, opinion, entertainment). Really, by the end of the year, they should have written at least one of every type of story for online.

This year, we are also going to try to incorporate small feature videos to get more multimedia coverage online so my reporters get some experience with film editing. To start, students will work in teams of three so they aren’t overwhelmed, and new staffers will be paired with veteran staffers. If you have the capability, have students report together on larger stories with the technology you have available.

One thing to keep in mind when deciding on content for your website is that this site offers so many more opportunities than print publications, so get creative and take risks. I allow a photo gallery or interactive post to count as a story, or even live tweeting at an event. If your staff wants to try something new, let them. Just make sure that your expectations are clear and they meet their deadlines.

EDITING AND GRADING

My normal print stories go through three revisions. However, to do that for online stories is a bit time-consuming.

If a student is struggling, then the page editor or myself will sit down with them, but for the most part, once students have their stories finished, they post them in draft mode on our website and then I go through them and edit them before publication. If you have a large staff, you can assign a copy editor to do this instead, but I like to make sure I read through everything at least once before publishing just to make sure.

Depending on your program and your grading system, yours might be very different than mine. For our print stories, first and final drafts are worth 25 points, and second drafts are 50 points. For online, each monthly story is worth 50 points, without any additional edits. They must also include a visual element and caption for each story, which is an additional 15 points. This means that throughout the year they are racking up a lot of points, but so long as they stay on top of deadlines and have solid content, their grades are not hurting.

AFFORDING THE WEBSITE

If your publication is like mine where you are fully self-funded, then advertising is going to be the best thing for paying for your publication. However, your staff will have to come up with a way for this advertisement to work for you and your community.

For our publications, selling ads in a smaller town can be a bit difficult since every program in our high school is hitting up the same local businesses for money.

The last thing we want to do is make our current print ads more expensive or have an online option that is too high to attract any potential sponsors. However, we still need that $300 to pay our yearly website maintenance fee. We’ve come up with a quick solution, though. Since we offer a discounted rate for advertisers that purchase an ad in each of our seven print publications, we thought we would do the same with online— $10 a month or $50 for the entire school year. In the first year of having our website, all advertisers who purchased an online ad chose the discounted option, and we only needed six of them to cover our cost, which was even better.

If your site is not capable of posting ads or if for some other reason you are unable to, try selling small sponsorships to companies or individual people. You can have a tier format (i.e. silver, gold, platinum) for varying amounts of money ($10, $25, $50), and then you can just lists those names on a page on your website. You might have to contact more people for this to cover the cost of the site, but with a cheaper cost, it might not be so difficult to gain sponsorships.

OTHER TIPS AND TRICKS

Make tutorials as you learn how to do things

My publications have their own Google Drive accounts, so instead of creating a binder with printed tutorial information, we have a document where we list step-by-step directions with links to videos or other resources.

That way, when a student forgets how to do something or when we change staffs each year, they can just check the document. Many hosting sites also have excellent tutorial information, so if you don’t know how to do something, have your students look there first.

Assign a website editor

I was lucky the first year we created our website that I had a staff member who was really into computers and knew quite a bit about coding who was willing to take over the behind the scenes aspects of the website throughout the year (updating design elements, helping students with technical issues, researching different interactive methods we could try, adding tutorial content, etc.). The issue was that he was a senior and I didn’t have anyone to fill his shoes after he graduated.

However, one of my new staffers expressed interest in helping with the website despite not having any coding or computer programming knowledge. In the end, it didn’t really matter. She was driven and had clear expectations of what her goal was, so by using the tutorials listed above and just the power of a little research, she was able to take over the small but crucial tasks of the website without much assistance from the adviser.

Collaborate with your school and journalism programs

If you have a broadcast or radio program at your school, combine the productions for your online site so you can provide more coverage and content on one platform.

You can also talk with the theatre director, club sponsors, athletic director, etc. to see if they want to submit media to post or want to collaborate. Also, reach out to your English department.

If it works for your school, collaborate with teachers to have students submit their own print or multimedia stories they created for class. If your school is really big into PBL, this is a great way to present student work with an authentic audience. My English chair was really helpful in finding a way to get more students to read what was posted, especially since I teach English I and II in addition to journalism. For example, when my students are learning how to write engaging hooks or persuasive speeches, I pull up examples from the newspaper website or have students explore the leads and opinions articles so they can see solid student work written by their peers.